Kendra Croft knows where she comes from, and what she brings to the table. Hear how she stays invested by incorporating things she's interested in into her work, and why it's all about bringing your own culture to the agency.

Heads up: We recorded at Kastner & Partners LA in a glass-walled conference room, so there's a tiiiny bit of an echo, plus the faint sounds of people getting shit done at the agency after 6PM. But Kendra's dope so you'll hardly notice.

Topics Discussed

Finding your own personal style for networking.

The importance of incorporating what you're interested in into the work you do.

Coming up with new ideas for a global brand with 30 years of work behind it.

The value of bringing your own culture to the agency.

Her love/hate relationship with social media as a way to stay tapped into culture.

Why dope executions aren’t enough in junior portfolios.

Mic Drops

“That’s why I hated them. At career fairs, you’re not listening to me, you’re not getting to know me. You don’t know what I can bring. I’m more than my resume, so let’s just have a regular conversation.” [On recruiters having the same conversation with every student at career fairs, and finding your own style of networking.]

“We all bring our own little culture piece. That’s your USP. That’s what I love about people. Every person’s culture—it doesn’t even have to be ethnicity—every person has a culture that they bring. I’m going to make sure you know my piece, because I love it. Why would I hide that part about me?”

“I find myself saying, ‘what’s the idea?’ A lot of the junior or student work that I’m seeing are dope executions. Looks cool. Amazing. Beautiful art direction. Headlines are interesting, but that’s where you start finding the little holes. Because, what is the idea? What’s the why? What’s the purpose of this? A lot of times you’ll get a cool execution, and then you execute it for print, TV, radio and it’s the exact same thing. Because the idea wasn’t big enough to actually branch out into each medium uniquely.”

“You can hear it in their voices—you’ve said this answer so many times, that’s your script. Then I try to poke holes and try to bring out who you actually are because again, it goes back to who you are. You have to infuse into your work, infuse into the company. The company is getting you for your mind. As creatives, we are our minds. So showcase your strongest piece in the most authentic way.”

Raised in small town Texas, with a NY state of mind, and based in LA, Kendra’s passions and work expand beyond boundaries. As a student of the culture Kendra builds her creative arsenal by collecting books, outdoor adventures, and concert tickets (but mostly concert tickets). Her work is inspired by powerful storytelling through the art forms of comedy, rap, and film. She believes in using the tools of advertising to push cultures forward, and uplift communities through appealing and entertaining content with an impact.

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